Gods of the Anasazi

Gods of the Anasazi

Who Did The Anasazi Worship

The Anasazi were an ancient group of people that didn’t have any writing. This means they have passed down their religious and spiritual beliefs from one generation to the next through oral means. Similar to other ancient civilizations, the Anasazi believed in the existence of a Creator. They believed in the existence of an orderly universe. They perceive “evil” as an imbalance between the orderly universe that they know and the humans. Likewise, they perceive “good” as something that results from positive actions and thinking.

Polytheistic Belief

The Anasazi were polytheistic since they were worshipers of many gods. They had spiritual figures that represented everything such as crops, rain, animals, and more. One example is their Creator who they also referred to as “The Grandmother.”

Rituals and Ceremonies

The Anasazi used to predict the coming and ending of the seasons by tracking the passage of the planets and stars. Based on this practice, they have aligned their rituals and ceremonies in harmony with nature. If these rituals and ceremonies were executed properly, the Anasazi believed they would be rewarded with good health, successful hunts, bounty harvests, and sufficient rain.

Beliefs and Origins

Likewise, their origins had also shown some influence from these beliefs. One example of such influence can be inferred from their rock art deer, big-horn sheep and horned masks images which showed their origins in gathering and long hunting.

Tribal Traditions

The Anasazi gave huge importance to tribal traditions and customs. They were very religious. They were also intolerant of different religious ideas. In the Anasazi society, the Anasazi priests were seen as very important figures.

The Kachinas

The Anasazi society is one that is deemed as matriarchal as it was dominated by women. However, their spiritual society is one that is dominated by men and that men figures were portrayed both as men and women. This varying perception on the dominance between men and women led to the rise of Kachinas. Believed to be their ancestors, the Kachinas are spirit beings who had the power to bring rain.

The Shamans

The Anasazi spiritual society believed that the Shamans are beings that possess a spiritual connection to both spirits of good and evil. In the society, they were marked as those with epileptic seizures, physical deformities, and hallucinations. They were known to search for visions such as those that pertain to hunting, warfare, fortune-telling, healing, and so on. However, they use a certain process as a way to see the visions and reach the spirit world. This include using pain, dancing, hypnotic chanting, and intoxicants.

Astrological Calendars

The Anasazi society made elaborate astrological calendars which they based on the seasons as well as on various times of the day. An evidence can be seen in certain walls which bore a series of spiral stone carvings. Such stone carvings are strategically positioned in such a way that the sun’s rays would pierce them at noon as well as during the solstices. Some archaeologists believed that the Anasazi may have incorporated their culture with a certain form of sun worship. The same incorporation was applied with read more Moon worship based on the presence of Moon huts.